The Enquirer and wire reports

The Columbus crowd came to watch a 19-year-old star - but not necessarily the one who won the game.

Rick Nash had a goal and an assist to lead the Blue Jackets past Anaheim 2-1 Tuesday in the debut of Russian right wing Nikolai Zherdev, who like Nash is 19.

Nash, who had 17 goals as a rookie last season in 74 games, scored his 16th this season in 24 games. The No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft ran his point streak to six games (6 goals, 2 assists).

Zherdev, the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, was cheered when he came on 40 seconds into the game. He had his first shot blocked by a defenseman just :59 into his NHL career.

• Capitals 4, Islanders 1: Dainius Zubrus had a goal and an assist and sent New York to its sixth straight loss.

• Canadiens 3, Lightning 2: Former Cincinnati Cyclone Jan Bulis scored a power-play goal with 1:17 left.

• Blues 4, Kings 1: Power-play goals by Keith Tkachuk and Dallas Drake powered St. Louis.

• Flames 3, Sharks 1: Shean Donovan on a penalty shot in the second period, and Calgary stopped the San Jose's five-game win streak.

AHL MIGHTY DUCKS: Center Tony Martensson, 23, was recalled by Anaheim and made his NHL debut in Anaheim's 2-1 loss at Columbus.

He went scoreless on two shots in 8:56 minutes.

Martensson had four goals and a team-leading 17 points with a plus-10 rating and 14 penalty minutes in 22 games with Cincinnati.

He also was named the Fifth Third Bank Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Player of the Month for November.

During November, he had a team-leading 13 points on four goals and nine assists with a plus-6 rating in 14 games to capture his second career monthly award.

COLLEGE HOCKEY: It's strange to see Ohio State, Notre Dame and Miami atop the standings in the CCHA, a league perennially dominated by Michigan schools.

No. 6-ranked Ohio State, tied with ND for first with 16 standings points, and unranked Miami, tied with Michigan State for third with 13 points, play a home-and-home series - 7:05 p.m. Friday at OSU and 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Goggin Arena.

"Those are going to be huge games for us," MU forward Mike Kompon said. "I think we are in position to go into Christmas either in first place or tied for first."

Baseball

PIONEER LEAGUE: Investors who want to bring a minor-league team to Hamilton have two weeks to buy a franchise and come up with a plan for building a stadium.

Terry Bridge, Barry Brown and Jim Bonaminio of Butler County Entertainment LLC have until Dec. 15 to take the necessary actions if they want to bring a team to Hamilton in 2005, league commissioner Bill Lee said.

Golf

PGA TOUR Q SCHOOL: Oak Hills High grad Brett Wetterich, who just failed to regain PGA Tour privileges through the Nationwide Tour, is in the field for the six-round final qualifying tournament this week in Winter Garden, Fla.

The top 30 and ties receive 2004 PGA Tour cards. The next 70 will receive Nationwide Tour cards.

Elsewhere

SOCCER: Freddy Adu, 14, made his debut in the FIFA World Youth Championship, entering as a substitute in the United States' 3-1 loss to Germany in a first-round game in United Arab Emirates. The phenom who signed with Major League Soccer last month came in with the Americans trailing 3-0 in the 73rd minute. He is the second-youngest player in the under-20 tournament.

AUTO RACING: NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth and a large group of current and former Winston Cup stars were honored at the White House by President Bush.